The shooter barricaded himself in the home, leading to a nearly two-hour standoff. The SWAT team entered and found him dead just after midnight Wednesday, Lowe said.

One officer was fatally shot inside the home, Lowe said, while two others are in stable condition and undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds -- one in the arm and the other in the shoulder.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the officer who was killed as 30-year-old Christopher Ryan Morton, according to WDAF. The identities of the other two officers haven't been released.

Lowe said they believe they know who the shooter is, but will not release any information until they "are positive" about his identity.

It's unclear how he died or what his relationship to the women was. The women were not injured, Lowe said.

Another shooting last year

This is the second Clinton Police Department officer killed in less than a year.

In August, a Clinton officer was gunned down during a routine traffic stop. Officer Gary Michael, 37, had pulled over a vehicle for a suspected registration violation when the alleged shooter got out of his car and fired at him.

The suspect in last year's incident was captured and charged with one count of first-degree murder, and one count of armed criminal action, both felonies.

"It's hard to put it in words what you go through when you have an officer killed in the line of duty," Lowe said Tuesday night.

"And then to have it happen to a department after a short period of time, that's hard to wrap your head around."

"Our hearts ache for our brothers in blue at the CPD," it said in a statement.

"Our community has lost another public servant due to a police officer involved shooting. We are praying and ask that each of you pray for all involved and especially for the family of the officer who was killed in the line of duty this evening."

The officer killed Tuesday returned to the department after Michael's death last year, Lowe said.